Permitted Development Rights extended

Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reports on the government’s plans to make permanent the right to build extensions and conservatories.

I have some good news for you this week, especially if you supply products that go into single storey extensions: the government has pledged to make Permitted Development Rights (PDRs) for single storey extensions permanent.

Glass Times posted this story on May 11, and it looks like it was a scoop in the construction industry trade press.

While I will of course polish that badge of honour, one also has to concede that the mire that is Brexit is clouding out many issues of importance.

However, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government told Glass Times: “As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of March 13, we intend to make the right permanent. To do so we need to make regulations. The government intends to bring forward a package of permitted development rights measures in due course. That would include making permanent the right for larger single storey rear extensions.”

Planning permission can be as much of a psychological barrier as a physical one – homeowners assume that they have to jump through all kinds of bureaucratic hoops in order to extend their property. Armed with this knowledge, home improvement companies have a great opportunity to grow their businesses.

And as homeowners are choosing to improve rather than move, according to most reports, then the market is ripe.

With just one week to go until the FIT Show, this news should also put wind in the sails of those companies who are launching new products and capitalising on a market that is still looking healthy, despite the reports that cross my desk that say otherwise.